Short Mandala Offering Prayer

Prayer in phonetic Tibetan and English

Sa zhi pö kyi jug shing metok tram
‘This ground, anointed with perfume, strewn with flowers,'

Ri rab ling zhi nyide gyenpa di
‘Mount Meru, four lands, sun and moon adorned,'

Sangye zhing la mig te phül war yi
'Imagined as a Buddha field and thus offered'

Dro kün nam dak zhing la chö par shog
'May all sentient beings enjoy pure realms.'

Word-By-Word Translation

First Line

Sa = ground, earth

Zhi = basis

Pö [chu] kyi jug = 'anointed with perfume [water]'

Pö = incense

Jug = anointed, spread

Metok tram = 'strewn with flowers'

Metok = flower

Tram = strewn

Second Line

Ri rab = 'Mount Meru'

Ri = mountain

Rab = supreme

Ling zhi = 'four continents'

Ling = island, continent

Nyide = 'sun and moon', from nyima 'sun' and dawa 'moon'

Gyenpa = adorned, ornamented

Di = this

Third Line

Sangye zhing la mig te phül war yi = 'Imagined as a Buddha field and thus offered'

Sangye zhing = 'Buddha field'

Sangye = Buddha

Zhing = field, realm

La = in, at, to

Mig = to imagine, to visualize

Phül wa = offered

Fourth Line

Dro kün nam dak zhing la chö par shog = 'May all sentient beings enjoy pure realms'

Dro kün = 'all sentient beings'

Dro = from drowa 'sentient being', literally 'goer'

Kün = all, entire

Nam dak zhing la = 'in the pure realm'

Nam dak = pure

Chöpar shog = 'may they enjoy'

Chöpar = from chöpa 'to enjoy, engage in'

Shog = may (in the sense of “let it be so!”)

Many Tibetan words have multiple meanings and definitions, and can be translated in various ways. Thanks to John Tasevski for this material.